DOVER, Del. (AP) -- The Los
Angeles Dodgers filed a revised reorganization plan on Friday and said they are
on track to exit bankruptcy as planned by April 30.
The amended Chapter 11 plan
filed Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware is based on an agreement
announced last week to sell the team for more than $2 billion, which the
Dodgers say will allow for the payment of all allowed creditor claims in full.
The Dodgers are being bought by
Guggenheim Baseball Management, a group that includes former Los Angeles Lakers
star Magic Johnson and longtime baseball executive Stan Kasten.
The $2 billion purchase price
includes about $412 million of existing debt financing that will remain in
place. The balance, just under $1.6 billion, will be paid in cash from equity
financing by the owners and affiliates of Guggenheim, which has provided a cash
deposit of about $159 million.
"This agreement is the
culmination of an auction process that was conducted over several months and
reflects the highest and best bid generated by that process," the team
said in a prepared statement.
The April 30 date was included
in a settlement that resolved a dispute between the Dodgers and Major League
Baseball over the team's bankruptcy. It coincides with the deadline for current
owner Frank McCourt to pay $131 million to his ex-wife, Jamie, as part of their
divorce settlement.
The judge presiding over the
bankruptcy case has scheduled a hearing next Friday to consider whether to
confirm the plan.
While the purchase agreement
with Guggenheim calls for the sale to close on April 30, it also allows the
Dodgers to seek approval from MLB or the court to extend the closing date to
sometime next month if need be.
Court papers indicate that
Dodgers chief financial officer Peter Wilhelm will remain in that post with the
reorganized company. Kasten, former president of the Atlanta Braves and
Washington Nationals, will serve as president and CEO.
"By any measure, the plan
is a remarkable outcome for the debtors, their estates, and all parties in
interest, especially taking into account where these cases began," Dodgers
attorneys wrote in a memorandum supporting the revised plan.
The Dodgers sought bankruptcy
protection in June after baseball Commissioner Bud Selig refused to approve a
new TV deal with Fox Sports that McCourt was counting on in order to make
payroll and keep the franchise solvent.
After the bankruptcy filing,
attorneys for Selig successfully fought to force the Dodgers to accept
bankruptcy financing from Major League Baseball, arguing at the same time that
McCourt had looted more than $180 million from the team for his own use and
reasons not related to baseball, and that he should be forced to sell the team.
The Dodgers, meanwhile,
threatened to seek court permission to enter into a new media rights deal
without the approval of MLB.
After battling for several
months, the Dodgers and MLB reached an agreement last year that authorized a
sale of both the team and a process to market the media rights to games
starting in 2014.
Fox Sports objected to the
settlement with MLB and the proposed marketing of future media rights, saying
it violated Fox's rights under its existing telecast contract with the Dodgers.
The Dodgers reached a settlement
with Fox in January after a federal district court judge said Fox likely would
win an appeal of the bankruptcy judge's ruling authorizing the marketing of the
media rights.
